Do you ever experience groin or hip pain during or after running, deadlifts or squats? Do you feel like you never get a good hip flexor stretch even though to you they feel tight? It might be a hip alignment issue. A hip alignment issue can lead to Femoral Acetabular Impingement (FAI) which means an impingement of the hip.
FAI can become a problem for active and sedentary people alike. It may be aggravated by activity, sitting for long periods of time, operating the pedals in a car and crossing your legs.
On the other hand, even if you don’t have any symptoms these exercises may improve the quality of your chosen exercise. Check out the video below where I demonstrate 3 simple exercises that are quick and easy to help get your hip alignment improving. Let us know your favourite by leaving a comment!
Think you might have FAI?
There are 3 main types of FAI but often aligning the joint can make a huge difference to pain and function. Often people we treat in the clinic avoid surgery and cortisone injections all together.
Cam – This type of FAI occurs from a bit of extra bone on the head of the femur which then jams on the hip socket (acetabulum) during activity. This type typically occurs in young athletic men.
Pincer – This occurs more often in middle aged women and is the least common type of the 3. This type is caused by extra bone around the lip of the hip socket at the front then as the femoral head rotates it catches or jams against the extra bone.
Mixed – This is a combination of the two previous types; cam and pincer. As described above it causes a catching or jamming in the front of the joint capsule.
These 3 types all describe bone issues however often the pain is from other tissues around the area including ligament, tendon and muscle. Better hip alignment helps reduce the bodies protective mechanism. If movement begins to feel easier and pain begins to reduce, we know we are on the right track!
If these exercises didn’t help your hip alignment or hip and groin pain we have a lot more tricks in our Myotherapy bag. Reach out and we can have a conversation or click here to book. We offer both online and face-to-face consultations.
What to learn more? Check out this other articles.
Do you suffer from groin or hip pain? It could be FAI.
Femoroacetabular Impingement (FAI) also known as hip impingement is a problem among active and sedentary people alike. Symptoms may include pain in the groin or hip area and restricted hip range of motion (ROM). It may be aggravated by activity (both intense and endurance types), sitting for long periods of time, operating the pedals in…
Do you have Patellofemoral (knee) pain syndrome?
Find out the latest research on what exercises can help, which ones to ditch and what non-exercise treatments might help
Bending over backwards for back pain
The jury is out! Bending backwards can assist back pain for most people. Find out how.